Ouran: The Next Generation!
by FeatherSong1323
Summary: Well, it had to happen eventually: Our beloved Host club grew up. But fear not! It's their kids' turn at Ouran, and their high school careers promise just as much fun for all of us! So read on and join the gang! Only rated T for safety. Makes a little more sense if you read my other story! ;D
1. Chapter 1

**Why hello there! I decided I needed to do one of these, cuz I've always wanted to. It'll make a little more sense if you read my other story, but it's not absolutely necessary. I'll try to update regularly, though my school schedule is erratic, so I can't make any promises. Here we goooo!**

"Do you have everything you need in your bag? Did you pack a nutritious lunch? Don't forget your calculator, you'll need that! You made sure your bow was tied correctly, right? I mean the one on your uniform, not the one in your hair. Is the one in your hair okay too? Don't forget your—"

The girl in the bright yellow uniform turned around and rolled her brown eyes, her long blond hair whipping behind her. "Dad, _please__**.**_ I thought last year was the last time you'd do this to me. I'm a second year in high school now? I think I've got the hang of it."

The blond man's face instantly turned into a puppy dog's. "But…but…"

"Tamaki, stop fussing over Kotoko, she's fine." Haruhi said, sweeping into the room, dressed for court. Her short hair was combed neatly, and she gave her husband a pointed glare from over her coffee cup.

"Besides, Dad, why are you fussing over me instead of Akhiko? It's his first day of high school, not mine."

"BECAUSE DADDY JUST WANTS TO MAKE SURE HIS LITTLE GIRL HAS EVERYTHING SHE NEEDS!" he grabbed her into a tight hug. He smiled as his son entered the room quietly. "Daddy's little prince can take care of himself!"

"Dad…you're…choking…me!"

"Dad, please don't kill Kotoko." said the smaller son, who looked just like his mother, aside from the violet eyes.

Tamaki released the girl. "Well…alright. I guess you two should get going, then…" he kissed each child on their forehead, then pushed them out the door. "Hurry and get in the car before I get all emotional!"

"You mean that's not emotional?" Kotoko mumbled, at which Akhiko chuckled.

"Have a good day, kids!" Haruhi yelled after them.

"Bye mom!" Kotoko yelled back on her way out the door.

"Good luck in court today!" Akhiko added, shutting the door behind him.

"They're so much more like you than me." Tamaki commented.

"Thank god for that." Haruhi joked back.

_Meanwhile…_

"Aaaaand here's your lunch money!" Ella handed her daughter a bill, which the girl promptly put into her wallet. "You all good? Got everything you need?"

Ariana nodded, looking down at her cell phone, her short black hair falling around her face, her glasses shielding her blue-gray eyes. "Yes, I have everything on my list."

The blond woman laughed. "You're just like your father. I was never so organized."

She looked up and chuckled. "Yes, Mom, I know."

A man entered the room. "Morning, Dad." Ariana said, without turning around.

"Good morning, Ariana." Kyoya said. "And Ella." He gave his wife a peck on the cheek as he set his coffee on the counter. He looked at his watch. "Where's Miroki? She's going to be late."

"Heeeeere I am!" The first-year burst into the room, her wavy black hair bouncing behind her.

"About time." Ariana quipped, still looking through something on her phone.

"Aww, c'mon Ari, lighten up! It's only school." Her bright blue eyes spotted the tray of bacon on the table, and she hastened to grab a piece.

"I'm sorry some of us take our education a bit more seriously." She said monotonously.

Kyoya smirked. "That's my girl." he said to his wife.

"Well," Miroki stood up, having finished her breakfast. "Better get going, then!"

Ariana put away her phone wordlessly, picked up her bag, and led her sister out the door, waving behind her.

"Bye Mommy! Bye Daddy!" Miroki waved on her way out the door. "BYE, AIKO!" she yelled up the stairs, getting a sleepy groan in response.

"Stop bothering our poor little sister and let's go." Ariana said, rolling her eyes and pulling her giggling sister out the door.

"She got that from you." Kyoya said to his wife, in reference to their middle child.

Ella giggled and kissed her husband on the cheek. "I know."

_Meanwhile…_

Hikaru sleepily opened the door to the kitchen, still dressed in his pajamas.

_Splash!_

The now very wet Hikaru looked around the kitchen, trying to hide his laugh.

"Itazura! Taylor! I know you're in here!"

The giggling from behind the curtains to the big bay window alerted him: of course they were there. It was their favorite hiding spot. He walked over and pulled both curtains back, revealing the twin girls in their matching yellow uniforms, one with her strawberry blond hair in a ponytail, the other with it falling around her face and shoulders in layers, each of their bangs sweeping to opposite sides. They grinned up at him with mischief and pride in their golden brown eyes.

"Ha ha, very funny girls, wait until the next time your uncle's over here, we'll get you back good."

Taylor, the twin with her hair down, played innocent. "But daddy, Uncle Ricky would never do anything like that to us!"

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah. 'Cause I meant Uncle Ricky."

He then heard laughter behind him. "Did somebody go swimming in his clothes?"

Hikaru turned around to his wife, half glaring, half smiling. "Yeah, Emma, that's exactly what happened."

The blond woman smiled, turning around to grab her coffee. "You working today?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied pressing the button to page one of the maids to come clean the puddle. "There's a fashion show tomorrow, Kaouru and I have to approve the outfits. Are you?"

Emma nodded. "New client. Recovering from a knee replacement." She turned to her children. "You guys made sure you were ready for school before you went pranking your father, right?"

The two nodded simultaneously. "Of _course_, mommy." Itazura, the ponytailed twin, said.

"Okay, good then, because it's time for you to go." Hikaru said, looking at his watch. "Don't wanna be late, off you go, to the car!"

The two looked at each other and giggled before running out the door, calling out over their shoulders. "Byyyyeeeee!"

Emma looked at her watch. "I've gotta go too." She said.

"Okay, see you later." Hikaru was about to give her a peck on the lips, when—

"_Poof!"_

A cloud of flour fell from the ceiling, completely covering Hikaru, flecks getting on Emma, who was cracking up.

"They get it from you, hon!" she called, running out the door.

"Nuh-uh! It's you!"

_Meanwhile…_

"Here's your lunch money, Matsuko!" His brown eyed, black haired, pigtailed mother handed him a few bills, then leaned in close. "I gave you some extra, in case you want extra snacks or sweets or something." The woman, Hanako, whispered, grinning. She tried to pat the top of his spiked hair, but she was very small, and he was very tall.

"Thanks, mom." The skinny, brown eyed boy patted his mother's head instead, making her grin even wider. "Well," she said, sighing. "Your father and uncle are in Spain, helping with military training, and your aunt's still sleeping, so I guess it's just me to see you off!" she sighed wistfully. "Your last first day of school…"

"Until college." He stipulated.

"No, no, no more! Now let mommy kiss you goodbye before you go!" the quiet child bent down, allowing his mother to kiss him on the cheek.

"Bye mom." He said, ruffling her hair one more time before he left. "Keep yourself entertained today."

Hanako sighed. "So reserved and quiet, yet so caring. Just like his father."

_Later, at Ouran, before the first bell…_

"Ariana!" Ariana turned around to see Kotoko waving at her excitedly. She waved back, which Kotoko took as an invitation to run over and give her a hug.

"Hello to you too." Ariana chuckled. "How was your break?"

"Oh, fantastic!" Kotoko enthused. "We spent it in France, with grandmother and grandfather. C'etait tres magnifique! How about you guys?"

Ariana rolled her eyes. "Mom insisted on Florida. My sisters enjoyed it, dad and I usually stayed in the hotel or read on the beach."

Kotoko shook her head. "I still can't understand why you dislike the beach so much."

"Hiya, Kotoko!" Miroki appeared from behind Ariana, grinning wide.

"Oh, hey Mimi! Kotoko grinned back. "I'll bet you had fun at the beach, right?"

"Oh yeah, it was great! I swam, like, the whole time. Big sis here was just a stick in the mud." She elbowed her sister playfully.

Ariana rolled her eyes.

"Oh," Kotoko said suddenly. "And if you're looking for Akhiko, he was over by the fountain reading."

"Oh, yeah thanks, I was going to ask you where Kiki was!" she walked backwards and waved as she went. "See ya later!"

Kotoko chuckled. "You know, she's the only one he'll let call him that."

Ariana shrugged. "She's been calling him that since they were babies. She couldn't say Akhiko, he couldn't say Miroki. So Mimi and Kiki it was."

"I think he likes her." Kotoko whispered.

"Who likes who?" the two girls turned to find their other friends behind them, having come from nowhere as usual.

"That's more than a little creepy, guys." Ariana said.

"Hmm, that didn't seem like a very friendly greeting, did it Taylor?"

"Indeed it did not, Itazura. What would have sounded friendly was 'Hi Taylor, hi Zura!"

The other two girls rolled their eyes and sighed, smiling nonetheless. "Hi Taylor, hi Zura!" they parroted.

"Much better." The twin second-years said in unison.

Suddenly a strong pair of arms came and lifted each of them up, making them squeal. "No teasing." The young man's deep voice said.

"Matsuko!" squealed Taylor.

"Put us down!" Zura protested.

He chuckled, then obeyed, setting them down gently, then nodded his greeting to the other two.

"You should be doing that to the first years!" Zura said to him.

"Yeah, where are they anyway?" Taylor asked the other two girls.

Ariana shrugged. "I'm not Miroki's babysitter."

Kotoko giggled. "I think they're over by the fountain."

_Meanwhile, by the fountain…_

"Ohhhhh Kiki!" The boy looked up at the sound of the all-too-familiar singsong and smiled, perhaps blushing a little as his best friend half-skipped over to the place where he sat.

"Hi, Miroki." He said with a smile. "Could you maybe not call me that so loud?"

She pouted. "But that's what I call you!"

Akhiko sighed. He couldn't say no to those big blue eyes. "Alright, alright."

Miroki smiled, then shifted her attention to the book in his lap. "What's this?" she asked, lifting it slightly so she could see the cover. _Business Law Basics._ "Oh, c'mon, Kiki! Studying already? Tut tut. You're just like my sister. Why so serious, little nerd?" she nudged him playfully.

He chuckled. "I guess I was just bored." He put the book away.

"I was only teasing, you know." Miroki said, still smiling. "I'm proud of my scholar-best-friend-guy!"

He laughed. "No, it's okay. I guess I'm just a little nervous."

As if on cue, the first bell rang, signaling them to go to their homerooms. He gulped.

Miroki giggled, pulling him up by the arm. "C'mon, Kiki. It'll be fine. I'll be right there with you, promise."

He couldn't help but smile at that. "Alright." He said, picking his bag up off the ground. "Let's get going."

_Meanwhile…_

Matsuko waved goodbye as he headed off towards his building. The girls waved back as they turned to walk away towards their own homeroom.

"So," Zura began. "What are we doing for fun this year?"

"Yeah," Taylor said. "Last year was good and all, but I got really bored.

"We do need something to do." Kotoko agreed. They all turned. "Ariana?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Why am I suddenly the ideas person? Come up with something, then tell me about it, and I'll tell you if it's possible."

"We've been trying for, like, six months!" Taylor whined.

"Yeah, and we've got nothing." Zura added.

Ariana shrugged.

"I know!" Kotoko said suddenly as they entered their homeroom. "We put all our heads together!"

"But we've been—"

"No, no." Kotoko cut Taylor off. "I mean like, ALL of us. Us four, plus Matsuko, Akhiko, and Miroki. We'll have to come up with something!"

"Yeah, you're right, that is a better idea!" Taylor agreed.

"And a lot more fun." Zura nodded.

They all looked at Ariana, who this time raised both eyebrows. "Why are we all looking at me for approval? If you guys think it's a great idea, sure, why not." She pulled out her phone. "I'll text the others and let them know we're meeting after school. By the is fountain good?"

"Sure." Kotoko said.

"Okay. Sent."

**Okay, go ahead, tell me what you think! ^^ (I'm a total review junkie. After I post a chapter I check, like, every half hour.) This is gonna be like some kind of series in and of itself, if y'all like it:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Aaaaaand I return! But just so you know, it'll be a while before the next one, I just got assigned an essay and a research paper XP I promise I will continue! (You know I can't stay away;D)**

"_Brrrrrrring!"_

Finally, the bell rang. Miroki slammed her history textbook shut, shoved it in her bag, waved a quick goodbye to the two girls she had been chatting with, and skipped happily out the door.

Boy had she been happy to see that text from Ariana. The school day was just so _boring!_ At least now she'd had something to look forward to. At least the older kids were including them.

The twins, Kotoko and Matsuko were already standing near the fountain, along with what appeared to be half of the school.

"Heya, guys!" she chirped enthusiastically. The twins waved back, and Matsuko nodded his hello.

"Hey, Miroki." Kotoko said with a smile. "We're just waiting for Ariana and Akhiko."

"No, just Akhiko." Ariana said, now approaching the group.

"Well, he'd better hurry up." Zura said, arms crossed.

"Yeah, I'm getting bored." Taylor agreed

"Hey!"

"Speak of the devil, and the devil he shall appear." Matsuko quoted.

"Hey, sorry." Akhiko ran up, out of breath. "I was in the library, I guess I lost track of time."

Kotoko rolled her eyes.

Miroki giggled. "Little nerd."

"So what are we doing?" Akhiko asked, hitching his backpack back up on his shoulder.

"Well, we were waiting for you." Zura said.

"Now I guess we're trying to figure out what we're doing." Taylor finished.

"What do you mean?" asked Miroki.

"Well," Kotoko began. "We've been trying to figure out something interesting to do with all this extra time on our hands since like, last year."

"So far we've got squat."

Kotoko rolled her eyes. "Yes, thank you, Zura."

"Well," Miroki said. "Our parents started a club when they were here, why don't we?"

"Because that was a host club, and we're mostly girls?" said Taylor.

"No, no." laughed Miroki. "I mean, just start a club."

"That's awfully vague, Miroki." Ariana said. "Remember we have to have a legitimate purpose in order to form an actual club."

"We also need a club room." Matsuko pointed out.

Ariana nodded at him. "Also true."

"We could go see if anybody's using the old Host Club room." Akhiko suggested.

"Yeah, good idea Kiki!" Miroki nodded her agreement enthusiastically.

"Yeah, it's getting kinda crowded here anyway." Zura said.

"Let's go." Taylor got up and led.

…

"Is this it?" Kotoko looked up at the sign.

"Music Room Number Three." Ariana said. "This is it."

"It's kinda creepy." Zura said.

"Really creepy." Taylor agreed.

"Well, it probably hasn't been used in around twenty years." Ariana said.

"So…who's gonna open the door?" Akhiko asked nervously.

"Not it." Miroki called.

Matsuko rolled his eyes and tugged the handle, pulling the door open. Miroki jumped to hide behind Akhiko, who had jumped behind his sister, who had jumped behind Ariana, who rolled her eyes and stepped inside.

"I don't know what your problem is." She said, looking around and pushing her glasses up her nose. "It seems perfectly okay to me, just needs a little dusting."

Akhiko stepped inside and sneezed instantly. "Hold the little." he said.

Matsuko sneezed as well, and nodded in agreement.

"Okay, a lo—" Ariana sneezed too. "A lot." She finished, wiping her nose and glaring at the room.

"Well, before we bother with dusting, we should probably come up with an actual club." Zura said.

They all sat and thought for a moment.

Two moments.

Three moments.

A lot of moments.

Minutes had ticked by and they still had nothing. "This is where we got stuck last time." Taylor sounded annoyed.

"This is boring." Zura whined.

"Aw, a little patience, guys." Kotoko said. "We can think of something."

"Everything." Akhiko said suddenly.

"What?" Kotoko asked, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Our club could just be…everything."

"Well I'm intrigued." Ariana turned to look at him.

"Yeah, what do you mean, Kiki?"

"I mean…it's kind of hard to explain…" Akhiko was clearly struggling for the right words. "Why don't we make a club, just kinda for the school? For the good of everyone? Just for fun? From what I remember, from what all our parents have told us, that's what the Host Club ended up being by the end anyway. I mean, technically it was still to entertain girls, but they did so much more than just that. They helped people."

"And they made sure that in a world like this, with everyone so focused on working and business and the future, that people didn't forget to just be teenagers and have fun every once in a while." Miroki added. "Great idea, Kiki!" she hugged him, making him blush.

Kotoko nodded, thinking it over. "Yeah, that does seem like a good idea."

The twins shrugged. "It's better than anything else we've come up with." Taylor allowed.

"And I like the 'fun' part." Zura said with a smile.

Matsuko nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Once again, they all looked at Ariana.

"I make the final decision again?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "It sounds doable." She said. "We just have to make sure the headmaster approves…" she smirked.

…

"Oh, I wholeheartedly approve!" the "headmaster" spun around excitedly in his desk chair, practically giddy with excitement. "Just think, such an excellent group of students following in the footsteps of the ledgendary Host Club, spreading good and happiness in just the same way!"

Ariana couldn't help but chuckle. "I'll need the paperwork to bring back and fill out, Headmaster Suoh."

"Oh Ariana you don't have to call me that here, I've known you since before you were born, why don't you just call me Uncle Tamaki like you used to?"

"With all due respect, sir, I'd prefer to call you Headmaster while at school." She said with a smile.

Tamaki laughed, digging through his desk drawers as he did. "You're just like Kyoya." He said. "I know I have those papers here somewhere…" he mumbled to himself. "It's just been so long since anyone here has tried to start a new club…ah! Here they are!" he exclaimed, holding up a handful of papers. He picked one off the top and handed it to Ariana. "The yellow copy on top is for your club's records, the blue copy is for me, and the pink copy is for the school's database. Now off you go, and you kids get started!"

She smiled and bowed slightly before leaving. "Thank you, sir."

After she had left, Tamaki spun around in his chair. "I just can't wait to see what they'll do with this!"

…

Back in the room, everyone was busy dusting, cleaning, and rearranging furniture, while Ariana sat at one of the abandoned tables, occasionally shouting questions at her friends.

"Orders of business that may include after-hours use of school property?"

"Uhh, parties?" Kotoko looked around for other suggestions.

"Dances!" Taylor shouted excitedly

"Ooooh, balls!" Ariana tacked on.

"Concerts!" Added Zura, to an enthusiastic nod from Taylor.

"Various…social…events." Ariana wrote.

They went back to cleaning. Miroki half danced around the room, twirling and humming as she beat the dust out of the curtains with a little whisk.

"Whoops!" she had bumped into Akhiko, almost knocking both of them over. They steadied each other. "You okay?" she giggled.

He nodded. "Are you?" she nodded back, then continued on the way she was going.

Akhiko stared after her for a moment before being startled by the sound of a spritzer behind him. He turned around to find his sister smirking at him.

"You like her, don't you?"

"What?! No." he said quickly. "Please, Kotoko, don't go nosing in my business."

She giggled. "I'm your big sister. It's my job."

"Well, regardless, I don't like her." He said, picking his broom back up. "At least, not like that."

"You said that already." Kotoko smirked.

"I'm just making sure you understand." He said.

"Whatever you say, little brother." She said, moving on to the next window.

"Orders of business that may take place off school campus?" Ariana shouted.

"Ooooh, trips?" Kotoko looked around.

"The beach!" Miroki shouted, getting an eye roll from her sister.

"Maybe the mountains?" Taylor said.

"Various…vacation-like…trips." Ariana wrote.

She sneezed again, and scowled at the table. This was getting annoying.

She heard a chuckle from behind her. "Here." Came Matsuko's deep voice. He picked her up in one arm, and wiped off the table and chair with the other. He then set her back down, took off her glasses, and cleaned them as well, then handed them back to her.

She blinked in surprise for a moment, then put them back on and looked up at him. "Uhh…thanks." She gave him an unsure half-smile.

"No problem." He said, smiling back then moving on to another table.

Zura turned to her sister. "So how long do you think this'll keep us entertained?" she asked.

Taylor shrugged. "It might actually last. I dunno. Ariana seems serious about it, if anything that seems like a good sign."

"I just hope it doesn't get boring." Zura sighed.

"Well, if all else fails, we can tease the first years." Taylor elbowed her.

Zura smirked. "You know me so well."

Ariana stood. "Okay, guys. The last thing on here is club officers. We need a president and a vice president." Everybody stopped and gathered around. "I think it would be best if I were vice president, since that puts me in charge of all the money and records."

"Well, I think Matsuko has first shot at president, seniority wise." Kotoko said.

Matsuko shook his head. "No, thanks."

Ariana looked at Akhiko from over the top of her glasses. "Akhiko, it was your idea, would you like to be president?"

Akhiko laughed nervously and shook his head. "No, I'd rather not. I'll be too busy studying. Plus I'm a first year."

"I think it should be Kotoko." The twins said.

"This was all her idea." Miroki agreed.

"She's good at being in charge of people." Akhiko said, with a bit of a sarcastic laugh.

Matsuko simply nodded his approval.

"It's unanimous, then." Ariana said, writing it down. "Club President: Suoh Kotoko."

"Wow, gee thanks guys, it's an honor!" Kotoko said with a smile.

"So, I guess we're done for the day then?" Taylor asked.

"Not quite." Ariana said. "We still need a name.

They all sat and contemplated for a moment.

"Subete." Matsuko said simply.

"All?" Zura questioned.

"Yes, all!" Miroki said, understanding. "Like Kiki said, a club for everything, good idea Matsuko!"

Matsuko gave her a high five, making her giggle.

"Alright." Ariana said, capping her pen and standing. "As soon as I hand these forms in, the Subete Club will be officially open for business."

**Oh, and thanks so much for all the reviews! I check, like, all the time, (sometimes in class...shhh) and whenever I get one I grab the nearest person and freak out. (My boyfriend now thinks I'm crazy, it's happened to him like three times ^^') Anyway, until we meet again!**

**-FeatherSong**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okayyyy here I aaaaammmmmm! Time for the kiddies to go home! Nothing but somewhat entertaining intro and dialogue again, sorry if you're not into that. And YES, before you read, Kaouru is gay. NO HATING ALLOWED. OR I'LL GET ANGRY. GRR. Kay. I think that's all.**

Matsuko gave one last wave to his friends as he stepped into the car. "_Weird that it's the limmo today instead of the town car."_ He thought to himself.

The reason became clear as he sat down to find his mother and aunt sitting across from him. "Hello." He said, raising an eyebrow.

"We're going to pick up your father and uncle from the airport!" Hanako said happily.

"Oh." He said with a smile, pulling out his homework.

The car drove on a while in silence before his mother said anything. "So how was school today, Matsuko?" she asked cheerily.

"Good." He said, nodding.

"Anything exciting happen?"

"We started a club." He said.

"What kind of club?" his aunt Reiko asked.

"And who's we?" his mother added.

"Ariana, Kotoko, Taylor, Zura, Miroki, Akhiko and I. And it's just to have fun."

"That's good." Hanako said. "You kids need to take a break every once in a while. And I'm so glad that you're including the younger kids!"

"They're fun. They've grown up." He said with a smile.

When they got to the airport, Honey and Mori were already waiting at the gates. Honey immediately jumped into the care and onto his wife's lap. "Reiko!" he cried happily. "Didja miss me?" he asked, giving her a sweet peck on the cheek. She nodded in response and gave him a hug.

Mori followed quickly, ruffling his son's hair and giving his wife a kiss on the forehead before sitting down next to her and buckling himself in. He looked like he was going to say something to Honey, but Reiko beat him to it.

"Mitskuni," she laughed. "You have to buckle up."

"Aww…okay." He said, getting off her lap and strapping in as the car pulled back into the road.

"Takashi, guess what?" Hanako said, smiling. "Matsuko and the rest of the kids have started a club to have fun with at school."

Mori nodded. "Sounds like fun." He said.

"Woooow, Suko-chan, that's great!" Honey exclaimed. "You guys can be just like we were in high school!" he paused, then frowned pensively. "'Cept not…cuz you guys are mostly girls…" he smiled again. "Oh well! You can still have lots of fun!" he gasped. "I wonder if anyone will fall in love…" he looked at Reiko. "That seemed to happen a lot, huh Reiko?"

She giggled. "Guess so."

Mori smiled. "Let's not get carried away, Mitskuni."

_Meanwhile…_

"We're home, mom!" Ariana said as she stepped in through the front door.

Miroki pushed passed her. "Gottapeegottapeegottapee!" She ran up the stairs. Ariana rolled her eyes and shook her head, then wandered into the back sitting room. "Mom?" she asked.

Kyoya entered, presumably having come from his little office nook. "Sorry to disappoint, mom's not home. She went out shopping. I'm afraid I'll have to do." He smirked. "Where's your sister?" he asked, looking around.

Ariana shrugged. "She ran upstairs the minute we walked in the door."

Kyoya nodded. "So, anything of interest to report today?" Occasionally, Ariana and Kyoya would exchange information on the people in their lives: Just like Kyoya, Ariana had that habit of finding out everything about everyone around her.

"We started a club." Ariana said absently, rummaging through her bag to find her homework.

"Oh really?" Kyoya raised an eyebrow. "What kind of club?"

She shrugged. "Beats me. Some kind of "helping people, good of all, just for fun" club. It was Miroki's idea."

He chuckled. "Naturally. Sounds just like something your mother would do."

"Or Tamaki." She chuckled as well. "He went gaga over the idea of it."

"Of course he did." he laughed.

"Of course, her ideas, as well as Kotoko's, are bound to get extravagant."

"I'm presuming you're going to be in charge of all that?"

She nodded. "By the way, how did you manage with the Host Club?"

Kyoya laughed and shook his head. "With very meticulous planning and budgeting. Plus some promotional items on the side. Remember: you don't always have to run _everything _by the president." He cocked his head. "Incedentally, who is your president?"

Ariana laughed. "Who else but Kotoko?"

He nodded, smiling. "Who else indeed."

"Oh, and as another matter of interest, she thinks Akhiko has a crush on Miroki." She looked at him above the tops of her glasses."

He chuckled. "Well, I can't say I'd be surprised, it was bound to happen sooner or later."

"How so?"

"Well, they are a boy and a girl, and they've known each other from infancy. Given that neither of them turned out to be homosexual, that kind of intimacy was bound to spawn amorous feelings upon the onset of their hormones."

Ariana nodded. "You're right; I suppose that does make sense." From then, no other words were spoken: Kyoya went back to whatever he had been working on, Ariana went back to her homework.

_Meanwhile…_

Miroki peeked into her little sister's room to find her at her desk, surprise surprise. Her wavy black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and she was still wearing her pajama bottoms.

"Watcha workin' on, Aiko?" she chirped, making her sister start and turn around.

"God, don't do that, Mimi." She said, gray ceyes wide behind her large black-rimmed glasses.

"Oops, sorry." Miroki giggled. "Looks like somebody didn't bother getting dressed today."

"How was your first day of high school?"Aiko asked, turning back to her writing and ignoring the jibe.

"School itself? Boring. But we're all gonna start a club! Me, and Ari, and Kiki, and Taylor and Zura and Matsuko spent after school organizing it all and cleaning up the old Host Club room."

"Wow, that sounds like fun." she said, sighing. "I wish I could start high school already."

Miroki smiled. "One more year." She said, patting her sister on the shoulder. "Anyway, at least the middle school doesn't start for another week. You get to sleep in. Lucky."

Aiko turned and glared at her sister. "Except when certain people wake me up."

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Hehe, sorry." She said. "I was just really excited."

"So how is everyone?" Aiko asked. "I mean, Kotoko was over here last week, but I haven't seen Akhiko or the twins since before we went to Florida, and I haven't seen Matsuko since Kotoko's birthday party."

"Well, you know Kiki, he's just been studying all summer." She giggled. "He was still nervous about today, but then look at him, he got elected class rep. He was the only one who was surprised." She rolled her eyes. "The twins are the same as always, but Matsuko acts different in school. He doesn't treat me like a little kid anymore, it's weird. But cool!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I guess it's not just him. It's kind of everyone. But I just noticed with him. I came up with a good idea, and instead of patting my head like he used to, he gave me a high five. I dunno what it is, but it's like now that we—Kiki and me, that is—are wearing these uniforms, we're one of the older kids.

Aiko pouted. "I'll never get to go to school with Matsuko."

Miroki shrugged. "Does it matter? We practically live with all these guys."

Aiko smiled and shrugged. "Guess not."

_Meanwhile…_

The twins opened the door silently, looking at each other and grinning. For their prank to work, nobody could know they were home…

Suddenly, once they were inside, they were ambushed by three different sprays of water, coming from all sides. They squealed and laughed, putting up their hands as useless shields.

"What gives?" Taylor exclaimed, laughing.

"Gotcha!" they heard a very familiar voice say.

"Uncle Kaouru!" They cried, running to give him a hug (and grinning mischeviously as they did, knowing they would soak him).

"Ha-ha, yes, now I'm all wet too. Don't act like you didn't both just see me last weekend." He chuckled.

"Of course, you haven't seen me in a while." A very well dressed man with neatly cut and styled dark hair and a bright grin stepped out from the left hall. He was taller than the girls, but shorter than their father and uncle, and was somewhat skinny. He wore gray suit pants and a vest, with a purple button down with the sleeves rolled up, and had a pink mechanical pencil stuck behind his ear and a tape measure around his neck.

Taylor and Zura smirked at each other, then ran over and hugged him too. "Masaki!" Zura exclaimed.

"So good to see you again!" Taylor added.

Masaki laughed. "Great to see you guys again." he said.

"You do realize you're still wearing your work, right?" Zura pointed out.

Masaki looked down and laughed again. "So I am." he said, removing the tape measure and placing it on a nearby table.

"How was the shoot?" Taylor asked him and Kaouru excitedly.

"It was great." Their father's voice came from behind them. "No hello for your old dad, I suppose, the uncle and his boyfriend get all the attention?"

The twins turned around and smiled dramatically. "Hello daddy!" they said in unison. "How was work today?"

"Oh, you know, same old same old."

Taylor glared then turned back to Kaouru and Masaki. "No but seriously was it great or what? What was the shoot for today?

Masaki chuckled at her enthusiasm. "It was the new spring collection."

Both girls opened their mouths in excitement, but before they could say anything Kaouru cut them off.

"And YES, we brought you something." he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a sparkly pink bubble skirt with a purple waistband.

"YAY thanks!" Taylor hugged the skirt.

"Ahem…" Zura coughed.

Kaouru chuckled. "Calm down, Zura." he pulled out a flowy, mint green, off the shoulder, see-through shirt with a blue and green tiger-striped tank top.

She grinned as she took them. "Thanks."

"Maybe you wanna go put those on, and change out of those soaked uniforms?" Hikaru said.

"Soaked and god-awful." Masaki commented, making a face. "Girl, those things are a dis_grace_."

The girls laughed in agreement. "Hey, maybe that can be the club's first order of business, changing the uniforms." Taylor said.

Hikaru and Kaouru cocked their heads to the side. "What club?" they asked.

"Oh, our little family-friend-group-thing started a club together." Zura said. "I'm not really sure what exactly it was for, but whatever it was, Tamaki loved it."

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "If the boss loved it, there must be something sappy about it."

"Duh." the girls said, starting up the stairs to change.

"Wait, girls! You forgot to give your dad a hug!" Kaouru said, laughing.

Taylor and Zura grinned. "WE LOVE YOU, DADDY!" they said, hugging their father before bolting up the stairs laughing.

"Very funny." the now wet Hikaru said to the laughing Kaouru and Masaki.

_Meanwhile…_

"Home!" Kotoko yelled as she walked in the door, Akhiko trailing behind her.

"We're in the family room!" they heard Haruhi say. They entered the room to be ambushed by a strangling hug from Tamaki.

"THERE are my wonderful children! Oh Daddy's so proud of you, starting a club and following in your parents' footsteps! And Kotoko the president, just like me!"

"Mom! You couldn't warn us?" Kotoki asked.

She chuckled. "Like that would have made a difference?"

"How was court, mom?" Akhiko asked, still encircled in his spaced-out father's arms. "You're home early."

Haruhi sighed tiredly. "My client didn't show up, we had to reschedule. Again."

"Ooh. Rough." Kotoko said.

Haruhi nodded. "I don't know why I took this case."

"Because you're a good person!" Tamaki cried, flying from his children to hug his wife. "And a good lawyer!"

She smiled. "Thank you Tamaki." she stood. "I could use some coffee, I think I'll go make some."

"I was going to get some tea, I'll come with you." Akhiko said, following her out of the room, leaving Tamaki and Kotoko alone.

"I really am proud of you, Kotoko." Tamaki said seriously. "You and your friends are going to do a lot of good with this club, I can tell already."

Kotoko smiled earnestly. "Thanks, dad." she said.

"I can't wait to see what you'll do first!" he said, going back to his silly grin, making Kotoko roll her eyes.

"Neither can I, dad." she said.

_Meanwhile…_

"So, your dad told me all about this club you guys started." Haruhi said. "Sounds like fun, but joining a club doesn't sound like you." she said, shooting him a sidelong glance.

He chuckled. "Well, I really just went cause Miroki wanted to, and cause Kotoko was there and everything.

Haruhi nodded knowingly. "But do you think you'll have fun?"

Akhiko nodded. "I mean, those guys are practically family, so it'll be nice to spend so much time with them. And I guess it's nice to have a place to fit in already." he smiled.

Haruhi smiled to see him happy. They were so similar, she had been afraid that he would spend all of school studying, instead of making friends and having fun the way the Host Club had forced her to.

"Just be careful." she laughed. "You may find out more about yourself and each other than you ever expected to know."

He chuckled. "I doubt that."

"_You'll see." _she thought.

**WOOO yay. It might be a while before I post again, just a warning. My dad is like SUPER naggy about me taking my online driving course more often. Bleh. I hate driving. Kayyy byeee! Thanks for all the reviews they warm my soul!**

**~FeatherSong**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys! I was just sitting at my computer and thought, "Hey, FeatherSong, this story hasn't gotten any attention in quite a while, has it?"**

**MIROKI: I'll say! Why don't you leave our parents alone for a while and write about us?!**

**And so, since Miroki and the rest of the gang seemed to be getting a tad antsy, here is the next chapter of their adventures!**

_Slap!_ Miroki stuck yet another poster to the wall of the school. That had to have been the fiftieth one.

"Do you really think these flyers are going to do any good?" Akhiko asked. Everyone was going around putting these up during their free periods, hoping to gain some guests for their inaugurational tea party. After all, without guests, what was the purpose of their club?

"Well, they're so neon they practically glow, so that should really help." she said, smacking another to the door of the girls' lavatory. "Plus who's going to turn down a free tea party?

He chuckled. "I suppose that is rather airtight logic."

She shoved him playfully. "I don't need your sarcasm, mister!"

He rubbed his arm in mock pain. "Ouch, Mimi, ouch."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up, Kiki."

He smiled to himself, looking down. "So what did you think of that career seminar today?"

She frowned, a sudden shift in her mood quite evident. "I think what I thought before, they're being pushy. Why are they putting deadlines in front of us at age fifteen that are going to seal the fate on the rest of our lives? I mean, for god's sake, we're kids. That's a lot of pressure to put on someone who's only lived only a little over an eighth of her expected life. What if I don't know what I want to do with myself, huh?"

Akhiko looked at her sympathetically. "Well, yeah, I see where you're coming from. But Mimi, remember that we're not like most people…we're blue bloods. We're expected to have our path set early, to know exactly what we're doing so we can get ready to do it. The world we were born into is a competitive one. If we don't get a head start, chances are we'll never catch up.

Her eyes narrowed. She stopped and looked at him. "Well, I'm only half blue blood, and I don't appreciate being herded like a sheep into some future I don't even know if I want!"

He realized he may have made a mistake, and attempted to fix it. "Well, I mean, yeah, so am I, but I guess most of us aren't technically being herded. Most of the kids are just going to take over their parents' companies or follow in their footsteps."

Failure. Definite failure. She looked royally pissed. "That's great, Akhiko. What about the rest of us, huh?! I don't want to be forced into something I'm not ready for! Why can't you understand that?!" she stormed off, leaving a very dazed and confused Akhiko behind as she angrily slapped the rest of her papers onto the walls.

"_What did just I do?"_ he wondered in anguish.

Well, whatever it had been, she had called him by his full name, and that was NEVER a good sign.

_Meanwhile…_

Matsuko was quietly wandering down the corridors during his free period, taping up the flyers as Kotoko had asked. Idly, he wondered how many of the kids in his grade were actually going to bother going: After all, a meet-and-greet kind of seemed like a first year thing. Why would kids who had already found their niches in the school even bother to show up? It didn't bother him, really, he was just curious.

"Ooomf!" he hadn't been looking down, and didn't notice the girl who was reading while she walked until they ran right into each other. He bent down to pick up the flyers he dropped.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, I wasn't looking-" he heard her laugh. He knew that laugh. "Oh, hello Matsuko. Sorry about that."

He chuckled without looking up. "What are you reading this time, Ariana?"

She laughed as she bent down to help. "A book containing rather interesting theories on the space-time continuum, as well as a good plotline. I seem to be unable to put it down."

"Skipping class to read in the bathroom is bad." he chastised sarcastically.

She laughed and rolled her eyes, at the same time wondering how he'd known. "Maybe so, but how much of a class can you actually count Probability and Statistics as anyway? It's all number crunching, I'm done my work about five minutes in."

He laughed again, then took her hand. She looked up at him with wide and confused eyes. Then he turned it over and lightly smacked her wrist with two fingers. "Bad." he repeated, with a somewhat mischievous smile.

She laughed as her sudden bout of nervousness diffused. "Right." As the flyers were all back in Matsuko's hands, they both stood up. "Well, now that I've been justly punished, I think I'll go back to class for the remaining five minutes."

"Have fun number-crunching." he said over his shoulder, making her smile and roll her eyes.

"Sure." she said.

_Later…_

"…and I think after we gain enough members, and once it gets warm enough, we really COULD take a trip to the beach. And I remember my dad going on and on about something the Host Club did when he was a third year, it was actually your mom's idea, Ariana, it was called a Prom, it's like and American thing or something, and…"

Kotoko had been going on and on about all of the stuff they were going to do for the past ten minutes as she walked with Ariana and the twins to Music Room 3 after school to set up for the Tea Party.

"Kotoko, I really hate to interrupt whatever fantasy is playing in the theatre of your mind right now, but PLEASE remember that I have to come up with some way for us to fund all of these things."

"Heeere we go." the twins said.

"Huh?" Ariana was curious.

"She came up with these huge fundraiser plans in Marketing class today." Taylor explained.

"She's been going on and on about them ever since." Zura added.

"Yes!" Kotoko said. "We can have bake sales, and car washes, and raffles and stuff!" she enthused. "Normal kids do that all the time to raise money!"

Ariana rubbed the bridge of her nose, pushing up her glasses. "You're going to drive me over a cliff, Kotoko."

"You know, we could probably just ask for payment at the door for these things." Zura suggested.

"What?! No, no, no, we're not a travel agency! We want to provide our classmates with fun! Not make them buy it!"

"Well, hold on, I agree with both of you to an extent." Ariana said, holding her hands up. "Kotoko's half right, we don't want to make them pay for anything, otherwise they could just do these things on their own. But there are certain things we could sell tickets for, like that Prom thing you were talking about. Nothing major, but my mom told me that at the high school she attended in America as a freshman sold Prom tickets for around eighty dollars. That doesn't sound unreasonable by any means."

Kotoko frowned pensively. "No, I guess it doesn't."

"Let's just take this one step at a time." Ariana said, pushing open the door to the room.

_Later…_

The guests had all arrived: There was an even better turnout than they had expected. As it turned out, there were a lot of kids looking to relax and have a good time. There were tea tables set up around the room, and eventually everybody had settled at one, and was sitting around chatting.

"Kotoko, I can't tell you how much we appreciate this." one girl said, backed up by nods from several others. "We're just buried in school work, it's nice to have somewhere to go to just be normal." she looked around and laughed. "Well, as normal as a tea party can possibly be considered, I suppose!"

Everybody else laughed too. "Well, just you wait, we have a lot of exciting stuff planned, and I think I can conclusively say that these tea parties are going to become a weekly occurrence." Kotoko said with a beaming smile. All of the girls at the table laughed and clapped.

Meanwhile, a group of third-years was seated around a table with Matsuko.

"This is really really nice, Morinozuka." one of the girls said. "I can't tell you how swamped I am, trying to figure out what to do after high school: It's great to be able to forget about it for a little while."

"Please, you can call me Matsuko." he said. "You all can."

"Oh. Okay!" she said, smiling.

The boy next to her chimed in in agreement. "Yeah, exactly. My parents want me focusing solely on my upcoming position in their company, and schoolwork. Thank god now there's a SCHOOL CLUB for enjoying myself."

"Glad to help." Matsuko said. "More tea?"

One table over, Ariana was talking to one or two students from her budgeting class.

"She has all of these crazy ideas." she said, referring to Kotoko. "She means well, but I don't know how I'm going to manage." she chuckled in spite of herself.

One of the girls laughed. "I'm so sorry." she said. "But you are really good at budgeting, I'm sure you'll manage. You've done a great job as class rep so far."

She chuckled. "Yes, but class rep has never involved any unfiltered versions of Kotoko's spaced out ideas."

"Yeah," the other girl said. "I don't mean anything rude by it at all, but I've never understood how the two of you are so close. You're so vastly different."

Ariana chuckled. "I wonder that all the time. It's really because we grew up together. I've known her since she was born, and our parents are so close that we're practically cousins."

"Ohhh, that makes sense. So is it the same thing with the Hitachiin sisters and Morinozuka-senpai?"

She smiled. "Pretty much. Sort of. Actually, Zura and Taylor really ARE my cousins: Our mothers are sisters."

"Wow, really! That's so funny, I never would have guessed."

"Hey, where are they anyway?" the other girl said, looking around.

"Oh dear." Ariana said. "Not being able to find those two is never a good thing."

_And, over at Akhiko's table…_

"Suoh, I'm so glad you guys started this club." one of the girls said.

"Yeah, I was getting worried that I'd never have time to make friends, all of that orientation stuff made life so intense all of a sudden." a boy said.

"Mm-hm." the table agreed. "I was worried I would never have time to make friends." another girl said with a laugh.

Akhiko winced as the career seminar was brought up again, but he covered it up with a smile as he poured the guests more tea. "Glad to be of assistance." he said.

"Yeah seriously," another boy continued. "I didn't know what to do with myself after that career seminar today." he took a sip of his tea. "I have an older brother, and it's so obvious that he's gonna get Dad's company. And it's not that that bothers, me, I mean, he's so perfect for it, and I have no interest, but it just left me thinking 'Oh crap, what am I supposed to do with myself now?' Because we only have until the end of this semester to pick our career trajectory, and I haven't thought about it at all. I have talents, sure, but I don't even know where to start with knowing what to do with them.

The other kids nodded. "It sure is a lot of pressure to put on fifteen and sixteen year olds. But I guess that's the price we pay for the life we live." the first girl said.

Akhiko suddenly felt a little sick. He looked over to Miroki, who was frowning and talking animatedly to another group of frowning students. He was beginning to see his mistake…

"Excuse me everyone, I need to talki to Mim—er, Miroki…for a moment. He pushed his seat out, but just as he did…

"TAG!" A blur of yellow flew by him, and he felt a slap on his arm. "You're it, Akhiko!" Zura yelled as she ran by, laughing.

Akhiko wasn't in the mood, but all of the guests were looking at him. _"Well…"_ he thought _"Better not to disappoint the rest of the club…" _he smiled and lunged for one of the girls nearest him. He missed, and the entire table got up and ran away, squealing and laughing with glee. The rest of the room followed suit.

"_I guess we really do just need to be kids sometimes."_

About an hour later, the entire club room plus about ten more had ended up in the main courtyard, playing an extremely large scale game of tag/freeze tag/jailbreak/hide and seek/capture the flag. It had gotten very confusing, but very fun.

Miroki laughed freely as she ran through the Rose Labyrinth, looking for a good place to hide from the other team. She dashed into a gazebo, only to find it was already occupied. She stopped dead, her face dropping. "Oh." she said. "It's you. I guess I'll go hide somewhere el-"

"No, Mimi, wait." Akhiko's hand reached out and grabbed hers, but quickly let go when she turned to glare at him. "Can we talk, please?"

She was still glaring, but begrudgingly sat down next to him. "What."

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." he said. "I'm really and truly a hundred percent sorry, I didn't realize how upset and stressed that seminar made you. And you're right, you shouldn't be herded like a sheep at your age into a future you don't even know if you want. It's not fair and it's not right and just because that's the way we were raised doesn't mean it's the path we have to follow. I was a gaint unsympathetic jerk and you were right about everything and if you want I can help you figure out what you want to do, or we can protest the system or whatever you want, just please stop being mad at me because I hate it when you're mad at me, it makes me feel like poop, not that I don't deserve to feel like poop, because I totally do, but-."

He was cut off when she pulled him into a tight hug. "Kiki. Shh. It's okay." she said after a minute. She let him go. "I was the one who was a jerk. I shouldn't have taken my stress out on you." she chuckled darkly. "It's not your fault I'm a directionless loser."

His eyes widened. "Hey," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're not a loser. You're never a loser. There's nothing long with having no direction."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Says the kid who has his future laid out for him on a silver platter."

"Well hey," he said with a smile. "Since I already know what I'm doing, that just means I have that much more free time to help you figure it out!" he said, standing up and offering her a hand. "That is," he whispered sarcastically. "If you don't want to go with the protesting plan instead."

She giggled, taking his hand and standing too. "No, no, I think finding a direction will be fine, thanks."

He bowed to her goofily. "Anytime, m'lady."

She giggled again in response. Then, suddenly, she looked up and gasped. "Kiki, look!" she pointed above his head. He looked behind him and saw a black tie, hanging on a branch high above their heads. "We found the other team's flag!"

He smiled. "That's great, Mimi!" she high fived him. "But how do we get it down…"

She grinned at him mischievously. "The same way we got the good toys off of the top shelf when we were little." she said.

_A few minutes later…_

"Alright, team." Zura and a group of girls, including Taylor and Kotoko, were huddled in a circle, drawing a plan on the ground with sticks. "Right now we're in neutral zone. If we get a few members to venture into the enemy territory and look for the flag, the rest of us can-"

Zura was cut off by a large group of their yelling classmates, with Akhiko and Miroki in the lead, flying the captured "flag" high over their heads.

"GET THEM!" Taylor yelled after a split second, the group getting up to run after.

But it was too late: The two first years had already crossed into their territory, and their team was doing a victory dance.

"Ariana, what the hell?!" Zura exclaimed. "You were supposed to be guarding the flag!"

"I can't for the life of me understand why you would put ME of all people in the lookout position." she said, closing her book. "It was really just poor planning on your part." she turned from the annoyed twins to address the rest of the club. "Alright everyone, this has been fun, but I'm afraid the game's over, it's time to go home." (There was a chorus of disappointed 'awww!'s.) "Not to worry, all, we will be having another tea party—or whatever, I suppose—at the same time next week. Feel free to invite whomever you please, the Subete Club will be glad to welcome all new guests. Until next time!"

She stepped down from her little soap box and dusted off the skirt of her uniform. She looked up when there was a shadow cast over her, and laughed at the sight of Matsuko, in the fashion of many of the other boys, with his tie tied around his head. "An interesting fashion statement." she said.

He rolled his eyes. "Did you have any fun today?" he asked, concern hinting around the edges of his voice. "All you did was read."

"Yes, and the reading time was very fun for me." she said. "I got to finish my book."

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she sighed.

"It's enough for me to know that everyone else is having fun." she said. "I prefer to observe."

Matsuko shrugged. "Suit yourself." he said.

"Always have, always will." she replied with a smile.

He chuckled and patted the top of her head. "See you tomorrow." he said.

_Meanwhile…_

Akhiko got into the limmo behind Kotoko.

"Did you kids have fun today?" Tamaki asked excitedly. "I saw that huge hullaballo in the courtyard, was that your doing?"

"Yeah." Kotoko said with a smile. "Zura and Taylor started a game of tag that quickly evolved into god knows what." she elbowed Akhiko. "This little nerd and his bestie captured our team's flag."

Tamaki clapped his hands with glee. "Oh, it sounds like you kids are having lots of fun, that's exactly what you need!"

Akhiko smiled in silent agreement. _"Yes,"_ he thought. _"It definitely is."_

**Wow. Proud of myself there. That's the longest chapter of anything I've been able to write in a while. *throws some 'go me!' confetti* I'm sorry, I know this story will never be updated as quickly as my other one. *gets glares from the kids* (Sorry guys!) But I promise to try to update it at least once or twice a month this summer. Thanks for reading!**

**~FeatherSong**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm back! Sorry it's been so long, I-**

**MIROKI: Oh, yeah, I see, once again give our parents AAALLLL the attention...**

**AKIHIKO: Aw, c'mon Mimi, please calm down, if it weren't for those stories we wouldn't even exist.**

**MIROKI: But-**

**ARIANA: If you two would please, she's trying to tell it now, so if you would let her?**

**Thank you, Ariana. **

"Bye! Buh-bye! Have a wonderful afternoon!" Kotoko waved the last of the guests out the door. The third weekly Subete tea party had gone as splendidly and smoothly as all of the others, and she couldn't be happier. She looked down the hall smiling as the last few guests wandered away.

Ariana pushed the door shut. "Alright, ditzy dreamer, time for a club meeting."

The group of seven gathered around the coffee table in the center of the room. Kotoko sat in the middle of the couch, and Ariana sat next to her, with her notebook (a gift from her father) at the ready.

"Okay," Ariana began. "So far our reviews have all been excellent, and out guest count has been going up exponentially since the first meeting." Kotoko grinned. "However," Ariana continued. "I've been getting some requests for something more."

"Yeah." Zura put in from her spot on the arm of the chair that Taylor was sitting in.

"Our table has been saying they want more variety, like on the first day." Taylor explained.

"For a club called the Subete Club, we don't really do much of anything." Zura joked.

Kotoko's smile quickly turned to a frown. "Alright, alright, so then what do you guys suggest?"

The twins looked at each other with identical grins. "A fashion contest." they said together.

Kotoko looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Taylor began. "A few weeks ago we were joking around with Masaki and Uncle Kaoru, and…"

"And we came up with the idea to have a fashion contest to replace our uniforms!" Zura cut in excitedly.

Taylor glared at her. "It was MY idea, and I was telling that story…"

Zura stuck out her tongue. "Well you weren't telling it fast enough."

It looked like Taylor was gearing up for a retort, but Akihiko cut in before they could start one of their fights. "What's wrong with our uniforms now?"

He got five looks simultaneously from the girls.

"They're yellow monstrosities." Ariana said flatly.

"I think the boys' uniforms are fine." Matsuko interjected.

Ariana nodded at him, pushing her glasses up. "Yes, agreed, the problem is really only with the girls' uniforms."

"Even so, how will we get the okay to change them? Dad is pretty attached…" Kotoko said.

The club turned to look at her. Her eyes widened. "Ohhhhh no!" she said, shaking her head vehemently. "Don't you guys send me in there to deal with Dad, you know how much I hate doing stuff like this, and I told you that getting the stu surprise removed from the lunch menu was the last time!"

_Later…._

Kotoko poked her head in the door of her father's large office very quietly. His desk chair was turned around, and he was staring out the window at the courtyard pensively. She was going to kill them. She took a deep breath and put on her sweetest "daddy's little girl" voice. "Hey…daaaaddy?"

Tamaki turned suddenly, a grin spreading across his face. "Why hello, darling Kotoko! What brings you to Daddy's office on this fine spring day?"

She stepped inside. "Well, you see, the Subete Club was just having a meeting, and…"

"Oh, you kids and your wonderful club, what were you up to today?" he interrupted cheerfully.

Kotoko tried her best not to roll her eyes as she continued. "Well, we were trying to think of other things to do besides just our tea parties. They're fun and all, but we created the club for more than just that." Here she started to put on her best imitation of her father's starry-eyed look. "After all, we are trying to model ourselves after your famous host club, and we want to live up to your standards, improving life in the school and whatnot!" she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

Tamaki's eyes were tearing up. "Of course, my little princess, I'll help in any way I can!" he grabbed her hands from across the desk.

She sniffled. "Well…Itazura and Taylor did have this one idea…."

"Say it and it's done, my darling!" Tamaki declared.

Kotoko smiled. "We want to replace the girls' uniforms, and we want to organize a fashion show in order to do it!"

Tamaki blinked in surprise. "But…but…the uniforms are a tradition…they're so cute and femine…."

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry Dad, but we look like giant yellow marshmallows. Everyone thinks so. I mean, Mom hated these uniforms so much she didn't even wear them."

"That was not the reason and you know it! Your mother was masquerading as a boy to pay off her debt to the Host Club we've told you that story a million times!" he pouted.

She rolled her eyes again. "You mean _you've_ told it a million times…"

He looked her up and down. "You all really hate them that much?"

Kotoko sighed. She really hated upsetting her dad. "They're big and poofy and uncomfortable. It'd be much easier to learn in something more…comfortable." she offered.

He made a face. "Well…if it's for the good of learning…then I have no choice but to give you full and express permission! Go ahead and do it! We'll have a runway set up by Friday afternoon! Tell your friends! Put up flyers! I'll make sure everyone knows! Go! Have fun!"

She laughed as she left. "Thanks, Daddy!"

Kotoko arrived back at the club room a few minutes later to find it in somewhat of a disarray. Ariana was taking measurements of the room, while Miroki sat at a table with Matsuko, scribbling away at a paper while he watched, occasionally pointing at something and asking a brief question. The twins were drowning in a pile of fabrics…where had all those fabrics come from?!

She didn't notice her little brother until he spoke to her, from the windowledge where he was sitting with his law book. "I hope you got Dad's permission, I don't think there's any stopping these guys either way."

She grinned. "Yeah, I did!" she ran over to the pile of fabrics. "Make room, you guys!" she jumped in.

"We're good to go?" they asked excitedly.

"You bet!"

The two high-fived and dove back in.

Everybody stopped when they heard the sound of Ariana's measuring tape snapping shut. "Alright, everyone, now that we have the green light, I suppose it's time to get down to business." she motioned for the group to gather back around the coffee table again. "Now, how do you all propose we go about this, logistically?"

Blank stares. She rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, for starters, who will be allowed to participate?"

"Well, everyone, of course!" Miroki cried happily.

"That's entirely unrealistic." Ariana said. "The whole school will want to participate, it will never end."

"But we want everyone to be able to participate somehow!" Kotoko protested.

"Regardless, I think the designing itself should be left to club members." Ariana said. "It'll be much neater that way."

"The school could attend and participate as judges instead." Akihiko suggested. "They could vote for the uniform they like best."

"Ooh, that's good, Akihiko!" Kotoko grinned.

"So, the question is, which of us is participating?" Ariana asked.

"We are!" the twins said, grinning.

"We'll be working together." Taylor clarified.

"I've already started working!" Miroki said excitedly, with a nod of affirmation from Matsuko.

"I'm gonna do it too." Kotoko put in.

"As will I." Ariana said, writing her own name down with everyone else's. When she looked up, everyone was staring at her curiously. "What?" she said with raised eyebrows. "Somebody has to represent comfort and practicality over fashion."

"What about you guys?" Kotoko turned to the boys.

Akihiko laughed and shook his head. "Frankly, I couldn't care less and would much rather concentrate on my studies."

"Of course you would." she turned. "Matsuko."

He chuckled and shook his head no.

"Well, I suppose that settles it." she faced the whole club with a slightly mischievous grin. "Girls," she said. "Let the games begin."

**As I was saying earlier, sorry, I know I said there would be more updates than there have been, there was just a lot more going on this summer than I expected, but I'm free as a bird now, (except for schoolwork and college crap) and I promise I will get more up! Until next time, thanks for reading! As always, tell me what you think, and I'm open to answer any questions you have for me! Love you all!**

**-FeatherSong**


	6. Chapter 6

**Back in one day, all for you guys! Here it is, and if this were an actual anime I suppose this would be the second half of episode three:) **

**MIROKI: Now this is more like it! Much better on your update speed, FeatherSong, keep it up!**

**AIKO: Hey! I'm in this one! :D**

**ARIANA: Oh, for the last time, shush, you two! The story will never get told if you keep interrupting the author!**

**Once again, thank you, Ariana. Oh! And don't forget to read my little note at the end, I kinda need your guys' help. But for now, here's the story!**

"Mimi, don't you think you're going a _little_ bit overboard?" Akihiko asked from somewhere underneath the pile of clothes and fabrics in his arms. They were at her house after school on a Thursday, in her very pink room, and she had been throwing these things to him one after another nonstop for the last ten minutes.

"Nonsense, Kiki my dear!" she cried dramatically. He silently thanked god that his red face was invisible behind all these clothes. She looked at him mischievously. "I need a killer uniform idea if I'm going to beat the other girls!"

"Yeah, but…" he dropped the pile on the ground, his arms finally growing too weary to hold it all. "If you wear all this you're just going to look like a ragdoll."

"I have to have options." she explained, picking up a shirt, considering it for a moment, then shaking her head and throwing it back into her closet. She looked back over at him. "Now, are you going to criticize me, or are you gonna help?"

He sighed and started sifting through the pile as well. "May I suggest ruling out anything that isn't yellow or blue? My dad was lenient enough to let us change the uniforms, but there's no way he'll let us do anything that's not the school colors."

She frowned for a moment, but then nodded in agreement. "I guess you're right…" she began picking a good deal of the large pile and throwing it back. "I would have loved to do pink though…"

Akihiko laughed. "Your sister would have a conniption."

There was a light rap at the door. "Miroki, I made some snacks in case you and…" Ella caught sight of the disaster area and put her head to her hand. "What on earth happened in here?" she shot Akhiko a look of mock scolding. "Didn't you try to stop her?"

He laughed nervously. "Sorry, Mrs. Ootori, I don't know how to do that."

Ella laughed. "Yeah, that's okay, neither do her father and I." she gave her middle child a somewhat stern look. "Young lady, I want this all cleaned up by the time you go to bed tonight."

Miroki sighed. "Okay mom." she then looked up with pleading eyes. "Can we eat our snack in here please? We have a lot of work to do on this."

"Oh, alright." Ella said, handing her a plate of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. "But if you get crumbs on the carpet you're dead."

"Thanks Mom!" She said with a grin.

"You two have fun." Ella said, smiling and shutting the door. She walked down the hall with the other plate of cookies in her hand, and opened the door to Ariana's room, where she and Kotoko were talking on the bed. Ariana had her laptop on her lap, as usual. "Hey, girls." she said with a smile. "I made cookies!

"Thanks, Auntie El!" Kotoko said with excitement, lunging for them the second she put them down.

Ella laughed. "No problem at all! Are you guys working on the same thing Miroki and Akihiko are working on in the other room?"

"That is correct." Ariana said, not taking her eyes off of her screen. "We are having a contest to redesign the girls' school uniforms."

"Oh, that's great! But how the heck did you get Tamaki to agree to that?"

Kotoko raised her hand and hung her head. "They guilted me into charming Daddy into it."

"A necessary evil. You'll get over it." Ariana said, still not looking up.

Ella laughed again. "Sometimes you just gotta do what you've gotta do. I'll leave you two alone now to work on your stuff. Good luck!"

"Wait a minute." Kotoko looked up with a frown after Ella shut the door. "Miroki is getting help from Akihiko? That's not fair!"

Ariana chuckled. "Come on, Kotoko, how much help can he really be?" she put her laptop down and made a note in her notebook.

Kotoko stood up. "Still! I want a helper! I have a lot of ideas."

"Like what?" Ariana asked absently.

"Well, like—wait." she gave her friend a suspicious look. "Don't think I don't see what you're doing. You think you're soooooo clever!"

Ariana looked up, raising an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" she said tiredly.

Kotoko pointed an accusing finger. "You're trying to steal my ideas!"

Ariana laughed, turning back to her work. "Hardly."

"Well, I'm not taking any chances." Kotoko opened the door. "If you need me, I'll be working on my plans…elsewhere!" she left the room, shutting the door behind her dramatically.

Ariana chuckled and shook her head. "Idiot."

...

Aiko had just finished her homework, and was about to pull out her writing, when there was a rap at her door. "Come in!" she called.

"Heyyyyy, Aiko!" she turned around to find Kotoko bouncing into the room.

"Hey, Kotoko, what's up?" she asked curiously.

"Well, you see, I need your help. We're supposed to be designing new school uniforms for the Ouran girls, but I think I could use an extra set of eyes. I can't use Ariana, because she's competing with me. So, seeing as my own little brother has abandoned me for his dearest Mimi, I was thinking that the two of us should put our heads together! Whaddaya say?" she grinned.

Aiko gave a small laugh. "Well, that sounds great and all, Kotoko, but are you sure you want to be asking me? I mean, all I ever wear is tee shirts and sweats."

"Pshh, please." Kotoko brushed her off. "You can be fashionable when you want to be, I believe in you!"

Aiko sighed and smiled. "Well, I guess, if you believe in me, then what do I have to lose?"

"Great!" Kotoko enthused. "Now let's get started!" she suddenly pulled a mannequin and a few designs and fabrics out of nowhere. "Now, what I was thinking is…"

Aiko's eyes widened as she continued. "_Uh-oh."_ she thought. "_What did I just get myself into?"_

_Meanwhile…_

Kyoya was walking down the hall, his nose buried in a document. He chuckled when he walked by Miroki's room and heard Akihiko's exasperated voice.

"_Mimi, please, slow down a second, I can only dress a mannequin so fast!"_

Tamaki had called him earlier and told him about the club's idea. About time they replaced those uniforms, everybody but Tamaki could see. Kotoko was probably the only one who would have been able to convince him, though.

He raised an eyebrow when he walked by Aiko's room to see her dressing a mannequin with Kotoko. Both of them waved to him excitedly. He waved backand kept walking. "_Wonder how she roped Aiko into this."_

He was back to reading his document and nearly ran into the tall form making its way up the stairs.

"Sorry." Matsuko said. It seemed to Kyoya that his house was some kind of meeting place today.

"That's alright, Matsuko. Welcome back, we haven't seen you around here in a while."

"Good to see you again." he said.

"Were you looking for anyone in particular?"

Matsuko nodded. "Ariana."

"I believe she's in her room." her door had been shut, but she was nowhere else to be seen, so Kyoya assumed she was working on her laptop.

Matsuko nodded his thanks and continued up the stars.

Matsuko opened the door to Ariana's pale blue bedroom to find her with her nose buried in her work, as usual. She was sprawled across her bed, her left hand on her laptop, her right with a pen scribbling something or other into that notebook of hers, surrounded by papers with sketches on them. She didn't even notice him.

He chuckled silently and gave her door a light rap.

She looked up suddenly. "Oh! Hello Matsuko. I'm sorry, have you been here long?"

"No." He smiled and shook his head, coming to sit down next to her.

"I'm not entirely sure which way to go on this design." she chuckled. "After all, if I had my way, we'd all be wearing pants, but people like Miroki and Kotoko—and most of all, Tamaki—won't go for that. I have to play to my audience. The question is, to what ends?"

Matsuko shrugged.

"I know I want to go with a button down and tie, but with a skirt it just looks so bland. Nobody will ever go for that."

Matsuko furrowed his brow for a moment. He looked through her sketches, then put them down and went to her closet.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously.

He turned around and held out a blue vest that she had, something that went with a suit she wore to her father's most recent benefit.

She raised her eyebrows. "That's actually very good."

"Thanks." He smiled and tossed her the vest then sat back down next to her.

"Well, it would seem that everyone in the club is partnered up now." she said with a chuckle. "Tomorrow is certainly going to be interesting, isn't it?

_The next day…_

Kotoko peeked out from behind the curtain, grinning. "This is a great turnout, guys!" she said to the club, who were gathered behind her. "Half the school must be here!"

Music Room Number Three had been transformed into an auditorium of sorts. There was a stage, rows upon rows of seats filled with students, and a runway that jutted out into the middle.

"Wonderful, but where are the twins? We can't start without them, they have the…"

"Have no fear, we're right here!" they said from behind her.

"Once again. Creepy." Kotoko said.

"Where have you two been?" Ariana asked.

"Why, we were putting the finishing touches on our outfit!" Taylor replied.

"We had to make absolutely positive that we would blow the competition away." Zura added, throwing pointed looks to Kotoko and Miroki.

Ariana sighed and rolled her eyes. "The models?"

"Right behind us." Taylor said, as four identical looking girls strutted in. "Fresh from auditions at Daddy's company. It's their first gig."

"C'mon Ariana, don't you have any faith in us?" Zura teased.

"No." she said flatly, making Matsuko chuckle. "Now come on, let's get them ready. We should be starting any minute."

"My, what a joyous occasion this is!" Tamaki suddenly appeared from nowhere, startling everyone but Ariana. "I just wanted to come back here and wish you all luck! So, good luuuuuucckkk! I'm gonna go introduce you all now!" and he was gone as soon as he appeared.

He was still grinning as he stepped out onto the stage, but regained his composure. He had to keep his reputation as professional school headmaster. (Not that he had one.)

"Good afternoon, Ouran Academy, and welcome to the first ever Ouran High School Fashion Show, hosted by our very own Subete Club! Today is a very special day, because today you ladies and gentlemen will get to choose the new girls' uniforms for the rest of the forseeable future!" there were cheers from the audience, which mainly consisted of girls. "Alright alright, so, without further ado, here are the designs of our contestants!"

The curtain opened up, and out first was a model sporting a dress that looked awfully similar to the preexisting Ouran uniforms. It had a shorter, less poofy skirt, more frills, non-puffed sleeves, and a thicker bow around the neck.

"This design comes from Subete Club President, Suoh Kotoko, with the help of Middle Schooler Ootori Aiko!" Tamaki announced.

"Way to change it up, Kotoko." Zura teased.

"Oh, shut up."

The next model was wearing an puffed blue skirt with yellow trim that was slightly higher than knee-length, with a yellow blouse with puffed sleeves, and yellow mary janes.

"Our next design comes to you from Miss Ootori Miroki, with the help of Suoh Akihiko!"

"Miroki, this is almost as bad as what we have now!" Taylor complained.

"What are you talking about? It's way prettier!" she replied with a grin. The twins groaned.

The next model was sporting a short, pleated yellow skirt with white knee high socks, coupled with a white button down with puffed sleeves and a blue vest.

"This next model is wearing the outfit designed by the Hitachiins, Itazura and Taylor!"

The audience was definitely reacting best to this one. The two high fived as the rest rolled their eyes. "In the bag!" they said.

"Not so fast." Ariana said with a smirk.

"And last but not least, our final contender!"

The last model was wearing a knee-length yellow skirt, with a white button down, a black tie, and the blue vest Matsuko had picked. The audience was reacting just as well to this one.

"This outfit was designed by Subete Club Vice President, Ootori Ariana, with the help of Morinozuka Matsuko!" Tamaki announced.

Everybody turned to give the two a confused stare. Ariana smirked. "What, so you guys are the only ones allowed to have helpers?"

"And now, for the fun part!" Tamaki cried from onstage. "You were all given little buzzers as you walked in, with four different buttons on them. If you liked Kotoko's outfit best, press the red one! If you liked Miroki's, press yellow! For, Ariana's press blue! And for the twins', press green!" I'll tabulate the scores up here!"

There was a moment of nothing but button clicking. The twins gulped. Miroki grabbed Akihiko's hand and squeezed it, making him blush like crazy. She didn't notice, of course, because she was staring at Tamaki intently.

"And, the votes are in!" Tamaki said. "And…uh oh, it appears that we have a tie!"

"A tie?" the twins looked at each other, then at Ariana. "What do we do for a tie?

Ariana was slightly surprised. "I…did not consider that."

"Would Ariana and the twins' models please step forward?"

Kotoko went up to Tamaki and whispered in his ear. He grined. "Well, it would appear as though I am the tiebreaker!" he said. "This should be fun…hmm…both designs are very good…I wish I could just…oh! I know!" he ushered the two models backstage.

"What is he doing?" Zura asked Kotoko.

She laughed. "You think I know?"

"Aha!" Tamaki reappeared, startling the whole audience. "Ouran Academy, I present to you…your new uniform!"

The model came back onto the stage. She was wearing the black mary janes and stockings that both outfits had. She was also wearing the yellow flowy skirt and black tie from Ariana's outfit, and the blouse and sweater vest combo from the twins' outfit.

Ariana smiled. "Very clever. He combined the two uniforms."

The twins shrugged. "Well, we half-won." Taylor said.

"Yes, I would say that I'm quite satisfied with the way things turned out today." Ariana agreed.

"Guys, guys!" Kotoko came running back up to the group from the crowd.

"When did you even leave?" Akihiko asked confusedly.

"Never mind that." she said, brushing him off. "We've gotten so many people saying they can't wait to come to our next meeting! The club has, like, doubled in guests!"

"Wow, now that we have so many people, who knows what kind of other stuff we can do next!" Miroki cried in excitement.

"Well," Ariana turned to the reader. "I guess we'll just have to find out."

**Okay guys, here's some exciting stuff. I would love your help in writing this, and by that I mean I'd like you guys to submit characters for me to use! Like the original anime, these guys are going to help out a lot of people, and I'd love to use some reader OC's to do so:) If I use your character I'll give you credit, of course. PM me with the details, anything you'd like me to know, you know, looks, class year, maybe they know a club member or like them, they're new to the school or the club, whatever you want! I'll PM you back if I'm going to use it, and I might have some questions for you. AGH! I'm so so so excited about this. Love you guys! Thanks so much!**

**-FeatherSong**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I'm back! WOW BOY HOWDY am I excited about this one. It's a two-parter, but it's extra special because TEAMWORK! I cannot send enough expressions of thanks to KerrolynWolf for the use of her family of characters, and making the plot of this so undifficult for me to figure out and so FUN, AND for answering my many many questions. This has literally been one of my favorite things to write. I really really want to do more of these now.**

**MIROKI: I'm excited too! Let's go now, FeatherSong!**

**Welp, you heard her. Into Ouran we go!**

It was a week after the uniform shift, and the Subete Club's weekly tea party was more full than ever before—with more subtly dressed students, to boot.

Kotoko was floating on cloud nine. "Ariana, can you believe it!? I mean, all we wanted to do was have a little fun, but here we are, the most popular club in the school! THIS IS SO EXCITING!"

"Mm-hm, yes Kotoko, very exciting, don't you have a table of people waiting for you at your table?"

Kotoko gasped and looked over her shoulders. "I do! See you later, Ariana!" she said before skipping away.

Ariana smiled and shook her head, turning back to the homework she was working on.

"It's only a matter of time before she comes up with another elaborate plan for you to orchestrate, isn't it?"

Ariana chuckled and nodded at her friend. Emi Maeda was a lot like her, a loner type that stuck to the shadows and learned things by watching and listening. She was perhaps a little more right-brained than Ariana, more creative and definitely more given to emotion (though there weren't many who were not). She was actually Miroki's age, but she was very mature and had advanced an extra grade due to her extraordinary test scores.

Emi shrugged her medium black hair behind her shoulders, turning her silver eyes back to the homework as well. "Although I didn't mind the last one, really."

"_Nobody_ minded the last one." Ariana said with a smile.

Emi looked up suddenly when the door opened. Ariana followed her gaze to see the Miroki and another girl: She had medium length brown hair and green eyes, green eyes that were staring right back at Emi. The smiles dropped from both of their faces. The gaze continued for a prolonged moment, before Miroki said something to the girl to make her turn back and grin again.

"Hmm…" Ariana turned back to her homework, her thoughtful sound snapping Emi's gaze back to her.

"What was that?" Emi said.

"Nothing." Ariana said.

_Meanwhile…_

"Hey, Kiki!" the boy turned at the sound of his best friend's voice. "Kiki, I want you to meet someone! This is my friend Eri, Eri, this is Akihiko!"

"Hi, nice to meet you! Hey, I know you, you're our class rep!"

Akihiko chuckled somewhat nervously and smiled. "Yep, that's me, it's a pleasure to meet you too, Eri."

"Eri's in art class with me, she's a _fantastic _painter. It's her first time here. I told her she should get in on it early, before she had no clue what was going on!"

Akihiko chuckled again. "Yeah, well, with my sister running things and you helping, that's more than likely to happen."

"Hey!" Miroki elbowed him, pretending to be indignant. "Bullying is not a good example to set for the club or your class, Kiki."

Akihiko simply stuck his tongue out in response.

"Anyway, Miroki was just saying that we should drag you out of that textbook you've had your nose in all afternoon." Eri said with a sly smile. "We were gonna play a board game, wanna join us?"

Akihiko considered his textbook for a moment, then shrugged and put it away. "Sure, why not?"

The girls grinned. "Great!" and grabbing one arm each, pulled him back over to Miroki's table.

_Later…_

The club was seated in a circle around the coffee table, as they usually were right after a tea party. Kotoko was addressing them with excitement.

"Guys, we like, tripled our original turnout. This is so fantastic, I'm like freaking out!"

"We know so much more of our class now, too." Taylor added.

Matsuko nodded in agreement. "Me too."

"Yeah, Kiki is being an excellent class rep, meeting so many people."

"Excellent, excellent!" Kotoko clapped her hands together.

"Excuse me, Kotoko, if I could interrupt for a moment?" Ariana said. Everybody got very quiet. "I believe I have a project that requires our attention."

"A project?" the twins chorused.

"Yes." Ariana said. "As I recall, when we began this club, one of the premises we founded it on was helping people in need?" she looked around.

"Yeah, that's right, because that's what our parents used to do." Akihiko said.

"Well, I believe there are two guests who need our help."

"Really?" Kotoko's eyes seemed to light up a bit. "Who? How? Oh, this is so exciting!"

"Well, there appears to be a rift between sisters that needs fixing. You see, there is a girl who my father bid me to become friendly with in middle school, since our families work very closely with each other. She has of late become a rather good friend of mine. Well, she has a twin sister who has been estranged from her due to constant pressuring from their parents, competitiveness, and their separation in grades, she having skipped one due to superior test scores. And although she would never say it, I believe she misses her sister and the closeness they doubtlessly once had. Her name is Emi Maeda, her sister's name is Eri. A friend of yours, I believe, Miroki?" she turned to her sister.

Miroki's eyes widened. "They're sisters?! I had no idea!"

"They have a brother, too." Matsuko spoke up. "Takeo."

Ariana looked over. "You know him?"

He nodded, a somewhat dark look seeming to cross his face.

"He graduated a year ago." Ariana said, not missing the expression, filing it away for future reference and turning back to the rest of the group.

"So, we're going to help these two reconnect, that's fantastic!" Kotoko said excitedly.

"That's so sad, I couldn't imagine drifting apart from Zura." Taylor said.

"Yeah, who would help me prank mom and dad or hide the good desserts with me?" Zura added.

"We have to help them." they concluded together.

"Okay, but how?" Akihiko said. "I mean, we have to be subtle about this, we can't just shove them at each other and be like…here…be friends again…or something."

Miroki giggled. "Of course we can't, silly. I'm sure Ari has a plan."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a plan." Ariana said. "Dad was planning on having a dinner party this week. The Maedas were already invited, as were you Suohs and Hitachiins (for your mother's position in the company, naturally.) Matsuko, your parents aren't exactly business associates, and I'm sure my father would normally be reluctant to avoid the headache of inviting the WHOLE former Host Club, but if I explain the situation to him I'm sure he'll understand."

"So, we'll all go to the dinner party and work it out there?" Akihiko asked.

"Precisely." Ariana replied with a cool, calculating smile.

_That Saturday night…_

"And may I present my daughters," Kyoya had the three girls lined up as he usually did on nights like this, in age order. "Ariana, Miroki, and Aiko." Each girl bowed when her name was said, and afterward they were dismissed and the cocktails began officially.

"All of the guests are officially here." the twins said, approaching them, dressed in matching cocktail dresses with flared waists, one in plum and the other a deep green.

"Stop, wait, who's who?" Aiko asked.

The twin in the green dress spoke first. "That one with the curls is Taylor."

"The one with her hair straightened is Zura." the other finished.

"Got it." Aiko said.

"Look at you three!" Zura said, grinning. "All dressed to the nines…why Ariana, is that an actual dress you're wearing? Without the sweater that might be quite foxy."

"And Aiko! I've actually never seen you with your hair down, and so straight! Did you straighten it?" Taylor asked.

"Uh, Miroki did, thanks."

"I'm sorry to pause you on your fashion tangent, girls, but the reason we're here tonight is not to appraise each others' appearances. Where is everybody else?" Ariana looked around.

"Right behind you." Kotoko giggled when she actually got a small jump out of her best friend. "Ha ha, scared you!"

"Yes, very amusing. Has anybody seen our…targets…for the evening?"

"The Maeda family just arrived five minutes ago." Matsuko said, pointing over to the small group chatting near the entrance to the dining room.

The twins cocked their heads to the side. "That's some hairstyle their mother has…" Taylor said.

"It looks like a fancy lowercase g!" Zura exclaimed.

Ariana smiled. "Yes, Rika Maeda has always been known for her…creative hairdos."

"Well, what do we do now?" Kotoko asked. It was clear she was trying to be serious, but it was difficult for her to suppress her excitement.

"Let's give it a little bit of time." Ariana said. "The night is young. We'll mingle, charm parents like we're supposed to. Maybe talk to the girls separately once or twice before dinner. _After_ dinner is served, we'll get down to business."

Everybody nodded, then separated.

"Hey, Mimi?" Akihiko caught her by the shoulder as she walked away. She turned around, her dark pink dress swirling about her knees, and her pinned-back curls whipping around as she turned.

"Yeah?"

He twisted the toe of his brown dress shoes on the ground as he spoke. "I just wanted to say, since the twins didn't mention it earlier…you look really pretty too."

Miroki grinned. "Thanks, Kiki!" she gave him a hug. "You look really handsome, you know. Not everybody can pull of a brown suit." she winked at him before turning and walking away, the tails of the bow around her waist bouncing as she did. He was glad she couldn't see how furiously he was blushing. It took him a moment to regain his faculties and walk away.

…

Ariana had managed to weave her way through the crowd without anybody attempting to make conversation yet, which was quite a relief. As good as she was at talking to people, they drained her of energy, and she would need that tonight.

"Mr. and Mrs. Maeda," she said with her best adult-charming smile as she approached the family. "Lovely to see you again." she bowed.

"Oh, and you, Ootori-kun, and you!" Rika said with a smile, setting her drink on the counter. "Have you met our son?"

"No, I can't say I've had the pleasure." she said, turning and bowing to the young man. He had green eyes and brown hair that he had tied into a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

"The pleasure is all mine." he said with a smile, his voice smooth and low.

"And Eri," Ariana turned to the girl, who was wearing a green dress with black lace. "Lovely to see you as well." she turned to Emi. "Emi, did you manage to finish that last problem?"

Emi nodded with a smile. "Yes, after I got it home and looked at it again it proved rather simple."

"Emi, why don't you go ahead and talk to your friend?" her mother suggested. "We'll see you again at dinner."

"Thank you, mother." Emi said, taking leave of her family and going with Ariana.

_Meanwhile…_

"This is a lovely party, Kyoya." Hanako approached him with smile, Mori, Honey and Reiko in tow.

He smiled graciously. "Thank you, Hanako, but as you know, the party planning was all my lovely wife's doing."

"Yeah, Kyo-chan, where is Ellie-chan?" Honey asked, looking around.

Kyoya looked around as well. "I'm not sure, she may be in the kitchen with the cooks…"

"…Or talking to her sister." Ella finished, approaching the group from behind with Emma next to her.

"'Sup, nerd?" Emma grinned as she said the old nickname.

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "Hello, dear sister-in-law. Where is your husband?"

Emma shrugged. "Beats me. With his brother, wherever he is."

Masaki was next to approach. "Has anyone seen Kaoru?"

"We were just wondering that ourselves." Reiko said.

Just then, familiar sounds of mild anguish could be heard approaching them. The group looked over just as Tamaki's voice became distinguishable.

"That's enough, you shady twins! Leave my lady alone! Didn't you get your fill of pestering her in high school."

"Tamaki, it's fine, after this many years I think I'm used to it…" Haruhi said, waving away the twins as usual.

"Hello, everyone!" the twins said in unison as they reached the rest of their friends.

"About time…" Masaki fake pouted. Kaoru flew to his side in reaction.

"Hey, it's the Haninozukas and the Morinozukas!" Hikaru observed. "I didn't expect to see you guys here."

"We didn't really expect Kaoru and Masaki here either." Emma said. She turned to Kyoya. "I thought this was a business dinner?"

"It was," Kyoya began. "However, my daughter requested the attendance of Matsuko so that their whole club could be here—apparently they have a pair of twins who need reuniting—and I supposed that if I were inviting Mori's family I may as well dive straight into the pit of snakes and invite all of you here."

"Woah, woah, back up." Haruhi said. "What do you mean, twins to reunite? Like…that "community service" that our Host Club used to do?"

"More or less, I suppose, yes." Kyoya said.

Tamaki went starry-eyed. "OH MY GOODNESS! That's absolutely splendid! I can't believe this, it's so wonderful, can we help?!"

"Tamaki, please calm down…" Haruhi said, looking around.

"No, no…" Kyoya said with a smile, looking on with a silent pride as his middle child pulled the second twin away from her family. "I think they have it well under control."

…

"Now," Ariana said to her friend, being out of her parents' earsot. "Why don't you tell me what that awkward moment at the club earlier was all about?"

"I…don't know what you're talking about." Emi lied.

Ariana gave her a look. "Don't even try that." she said. "My sister annoys me more often than not and I still can't get rid of her. You two are twins, and you're so disconnected most of the school doesn't even know you're related. It's clear this isn't how you want things, and we want to help, but first you have to tell me exactly what the problem is."

Emi shrugged sadly. "I don't know exactly where it went wrong. When we were little it was great, she was my best friend. I guess it all started when I moved up a grade. Or maybe it was when I figured out I had to compete for the family company and I started focusing more on my grades. I…I don't know."

"Well, that's all well and good." Ariana said. "But I don't think that's all. She seems to be…avoiding you. There's some unresolved problem there." she gave her friend another look.

"Well…"

"Attention everyone!" Ariana's overly cheery mother (she had probably had a few more cocktails than absolutely necessary) rang a little bell. "Dinner is served!"

Emi took this as her chance to escape. Ariana looked back and she was already walking away. _"Damn." _she thought.

"Hey." Kotoko appeared on one side of her. "Did you find anything out?"

Ariana sighed. "No more than I already knew." she said. "She's still hiding something, but this will have to be enough."

"Miroki? What about you?"

The middle Ootori sister appeared on the other side of her. "No such luck. She acted like she didn't know what I was talking about, then changed the subject. A lot. She's really good at that!"

Kotoko sighed. "Well, I guess we'll have to see how things go after dinner…"

**TO BE CONTINUED! :D If you liked this chapter, well...the next one is gonna be even better!**

**AIKO: Don't forget to remind them all to keep submitting their OC's! We can't let things get too easy for these guys!**

**Yes, that's right Aiko! Go ahead guys, be as creative as you want, PLEASE, I had so much fun with this one!**

**As usual, let me know what you thought! You guys are absolutely fantactic!:)**

**-FeatherSong**


	8. Chapter 8

**Back very quickly! And I'm in an extra good mood because I just finished a monstrous essay for AP English summer reading (ugh). I'm tired but happy! Anyway, here is part two, and more thanks to KerrolynWolf:) **

**(AIKO: (whispering) Go ahead! Submit OC's too! You know you want to!)**

Dinner was a mostly civil affair (as civil as a dinner with the entire Host Club present could possibly be), and afterward everyone retired to other rooms of the house: Some families went to check out Kyoya's private art collection, others to the sitting room to chat (and make deals, no doubt).

The Subete Club was working on their own "business." Ariana, Kotoko, and Zura were sitting in a slightly more private room with Emi; Miroki, Akihiko and Taylor were walking around and chatting with Eri. (Matsuko, being the eldest, was engaged in social conventions.)

"That dress is _perfect_, Eri, where did you get it?" Taylor asked.

"Oh, actually, I designed it myself." Eri said with a modest smile. "I'm really into fashion."

"No kidding, so am I!" Taylor said. "That's so impressive, though! I was expecting to hear the name of a famous designer."

"Wow, thanks." Eri said. "Coming from the daughter of one of the Hitachiin brothers, that's pretty much an honor!"

"Do you plan on pursuing fashion as a career, Eri?" Akihiko asked.

She shrugged. "I dunno. I might, but I also like painting. And gardening. I'll figure it out."

The group rounded the corner into the room where the other group was.

"Oh, hey guys!" Zura said, feigning surprise. "Taylor! I was wondering where you were!"

"Zura!" she turned to Eri. "We're almost never apart." she explained.

"I always found the twin bond to be such a beautiful thing." Kotoko said. She toned it down after Ariana gave her a look. "It's just…so interesting, that two people can be so close from birth."

"It's not always like that…" Eri said.

"Sometimes they drift apart." Emi agreed.

"I can't say it would be that common though." Ariana said. "Look at Hikaru and Kaoru. Each leading his own life, one married with children, but still thick as thieves."

"I can't see how it would be possible to drive me and Zura apart." Taylor said simply.

"Sometimes a wedge is just driven in between, I guess…" Eri said quietly. "Maybe by betrayal…or something…I couldn't say…."

Emi stood suddenly, clearly holding back tears. Everybody looked around in a mild panic. This was not part of the plan. "I never betrayed you!" she cried.

Emi's face twisted with pain and anger in a fraction of a second. "You did! You betrayed me and you lied! More than once! I really really liked that boy, Emi! And you drove him away why?! Why?! YOU STILL WON'T TELL ME WHY! You know what I think? I think you were JEALOUS. That's right! For once all the attention wasn't on you, you weren't the star, and you couldn't handle it!"

Emi's face was covered in tears. "You don't understand…that's not it at all!" she cried.

"No. You've had your chances to apologize. _Three years_ of chances. Don't bother anymore. Just keep on pretending I don't exist! You're happier that way anyway!" Eri ran away, now also crying. Emi got up and ran out in the opposite direction.

Everybody else flopped down on the chairs, speechless.

"Well…" Akihiko said. He tried to continue, but couldn't quite get any more words out.

Miroki started sniffling, and ducked into his shoulder to hide her tears. Taylor's eyes were red too, and she and Zura were hugging each other tight.

"I guess…we shouldn't have tried to meddle with them at all." Kotoko said.

"I'm sorry, everyone." Ariana said tonelessly. "This was my fault. We won't try anything like this again."

Nobody said anything more. They all just…sat.

_Meanwhile…_

Kyoya was sitting, somewhat relaxed, on a chair across from Norio Maeda in his study. Maeda was a no-nonsense kind of man, his black hair neatly cut, his green eyes always focused. Kyoya had always liked his dry sense of humor, and they got along quite well. They had just been going over some business, which was now concluded, and now there was the mere matter of pleasantries.

"You must be quite proud of your children." Kyoya said. "Your son, I hear, is close to the top of his class at his university, and your daughter Emi is close to the top of hers as well. Especially impressive considering that she's a year younger than the rest of them."

"Yes, quite proud indeed." he replied. "Though I'm sure you're just as proud of your daughter, given that she _is_, in fact, at the top of that class." he gave a small chuckle.

Kyoya smiled back and nodded. "Yes, I must say I am. I'm proud of all three girls, of course."

Norio nodded and looked out the window. "They have all grown up to be quite lovely. Ariana is a second year now, seventeen years of age, yes?"

"Yes, that's right." Kyoya said. "As of January."

Norio turned back slowly. "I don't suppose you've begun thinking in the ways of her marriage, have you? You no doubt realize that such a tie—to the child most likely to inherit the company—will be a rather important one."

Kyoya frowned. He did not like where this conversation was going. "No, as a matter of fact, I haven't: Ariana is a very independent young woman, I see no need to marry her off right away. And besides that, I trust her judgment."

Norio's eyebrows went up. "You mean to say you don't plan on arranging her marriage? Pardon me, Ootori, I mean no offense, just…it is a rather weighty decision."

Kyoya chuckled and shook his head. "I wouldn't dream of it. After all the trouble my wife and I went through with _my_ father—."

"Ah, that's right, I forgot who I was talking to." Norio laughed. "Your wife wouldn't take kindly to such an arrangement at all."

Kyoya laughed outright at the picture this created in his mind. "No, in fact I daresay she would throw me out of the house at the mere suggestion. No, I intend to let Ariana make her own decision—within reason, of course. As I said, she's an intelligent girl—she does take after me, after all—I trust her judgement."

Norio nodded and decided to let the matter drop. "Well, alright…" he stood up and turned to leave. "But I wouldn't put it past my son to try to win your daughter's affections on his own…just a fair warning." And with that, he turned and left.

Kyoya frowned to himself, and turned to stare out the window. He supposed he would simply have to leave it to Ariana to handle that as she pleased.

_Later…_

Ariana was the only one left in the room where they had all been sitting. One by one, everybody had gotten up, forlornly, and left. She had thrown her sweater to the side and had taken her shoes and glasses off, and was lounging on the couch in only her dress. She had turned the lights off at the first sign she was getting a migraine (a chronic inconvenience she had inherited from her mother) so that only the light from the moon, the hall, and the lamp in the far corner of the room kept her from complete darkness.

She looked up when she heard footsteps. "Oh, I beg your pardon, Ootori." she saw that the voice came from none other than Takeo Maeda. "Am I intruding? I only wanted to get away for a minute."

She sat up and put her glasses back on. "No…that's quite alright." she said. She kept her guard up, the look on Matsuko's face when his name was mentioned in the back of her mind.

"I was pleased to make your acquaintance earlier." he said, giving her a smile that she couldn't say was genuine. "I've heard so much about you."

"Is that so?" she said genially.

"Yes. You have the highest marks of any Ouran student since…well, since your father." he chuckled. "Of course, I couldn't have imagined that you'd be so…beautiful."

She looked at him in surprise for a moment before regaining her composure. "Well, thank you. You're very kind." she said. There was something she didn't like about this guy. There was something of a…slimy quality about him…she couldn't quite put her finger on it…

He chuckled, a dark sound. "Not at all." he said, putting his arm around the couch behind her. "_There it is." _she thought. She was suddenly very aware of her bare shoulders. She wasn't afraid that he would try to pull anything like that, but the situation still made her rather uncomfortable. She raised an eyebrow at him. "What exactly are you getting at here?" she asked. It was clear to her that this entire conversation was a front for something else entirely. He didn't genuinely think that, she could see it in his eyes: He had an ulterior motive.

He feigned surprise. "What do you mean?"

She dropped her own polite façade. "We both know that this-" she motioned to his arm. "Is not what you came here for. What is it you want, Maeda?"

His façade dropped just as quickly. "Well, if that's what you want." he said. Yes, there it was. He reminded her of a snake. "It's no secret that an alliance between our families' businesses would be quite a powerful one indeed. What better way to do that than with a marriage?"

"You can't be serious."

He took her chin in his hand, and this time she saw something else in his eyes, mixed in with the deceit: Lust? "Why not? You're an intelligent girl. This is the best choice you could make. As for me, well, I know what I'm doing…you are a rather comely woman, after all…."

He was stopped by something akin to a growl. He looked behind him to see a towering figure looming in the doorway.

"Maeda." Matsuko's voice was low and menacing as he walked closer to him. "Maybe you didn't understand…she's not interested in your offer."

Takeo gulped, almost imperceptibly, but Ariana noticed.

"I think it's time you left." Matsuko continued.

"Very well." Takeo stood, his composure seemingly unchanged. But before he left, he turned back to Ariana. "But just so you know, Ootori…this isn't over." he bent close to her face again. "I _always _get my way."

"What a coincidence." Ariana said, not budging an inch. "So do I."

Takeo's eyes narrowed, but he turned and left, swifty and without another word.

Matsuko was about to say something to Ariana, but they both turned when they heard a small gasp from the doorway. It was Eri.

"Oh my god…" she said. "That wasn't like him at all!"

"Actually, that was exactly like him." Matsuko said to her. "I watched him manipulate everybody in his class for two years."

Eri gasped again, her eyes filling with tears. "I have to…I have to…" she suddenly turned and ran down the hall. Matsuko and Ariana wasted no time in following her.

…

Emi was just leaving the bathroom (after calming herself down) to rejoin the Subete Club, when—

"EMI!" her twin came running down the hallway with tears in her eyes. She put out her arms just in time to catch her in a tight hug.

"Emi…I'm so sorry…I understand everything now…" she looked at her twin, and how confused she was. "I saw Takeo, and he was being so…slimy…I can't even believe…but that's not the point…you've been protecting me all these years, haven't you?"

Emi bit her lip and nodded. "I'm sorry, Eri…I just didn't want you to get hurt. When I found out the way Takeo really was…it really hurt me." she was tearing up too. "I just didn't want to see the same thing happen to you."

Eri nodded. "So…that boy in middle school…?"

"Takeo was egging him on for the family connections…he didn't really like you. He was actually a jerk."

"And you took the blame—for that and so much other stuff—for all these years…just to spare my feelings?"

She nodded.

"But…Emi…I so much prefer this to losing my best…my best… to losing YOU!"

They hugged. At this point they were both sobbing.

"What just happened?" Kotoko whispered.

"I believe we inadvertently succeeded in our mission." Ariana said.

"Go team." Matsuko added, smiling.

At his Kotoko couldn't help but grin. She crossed her arms in victory as she watched the scene before her. Ariana and Matsuko smiled at each other. Miroki jumped up and down and grinned and hugged Akihiko from behind, and Zura and Taylor were hugging and wiping each others' eyes.

Finally, the two girls pulled apart, wiping their tears.

"We have so much…to catch up on!" Eri said between sniffles.

Emi nodded. "Do you want to…go to the art museum together this weekend?"

"I'd like that." Emi said with a smile.

They heard Mrs. Ootori's voice from the dining room. "Dessert is served, everyone!"

Everybody turned and left, Ariana and Matsuko bringing up the rear. Ariana suddenly chuckled to herself; Matsuko gave her a questioning look.

"Nothing." she replied. "Just reflecting on the fact that the first time a man called me beautiful he didn't even mean it."

Matsuko stopped short, his eyebrows shooting up. He turned to her and bent to be on her level. "Ariana." he said, looking her directly in the eyes. "You _are _beautiful."

She blinked for a moment, her cheeks turning a bit pink. "Thank you, Matsuko." she whispered.

He saw the look on her face. She really didn't know that, and he couldn't believe it. He hugged her close, uncharacteristic for him. And just as uncharacteristically for her, she hugged him back.

_Later…_

All the families were leaving after dessert. Kyoya stood, watching Ella say goodbye to each at the door.

"So…" Tamaki appeared behind him. "Do we know how they did?"

"I would say remarkably well…look." Kyoya pointed to the Maeda family just as they were walking out the door: Most notably their two girls hand in hand.

"Oh splendid! I am so proud of them!" he sighed and fell silent for a moment.

Kyoya couldn't help but smile as he observed the group in the corner: Kotoko was talking animatedly, a huge grin on her face. She stopped to give Akihiko a big hug after he said something, then continued. Ariana stood next to her, arms crossed listening intently. The twins were on the other side, arms around each other: They said something that made the whole group laugh, then Miroki said something that made Matsuko pat the top of her head.

"So am I, Tamaki." he said finally. "So am I."

**Aww, good job guys! Their first real mission a success-if not exactly in the way they planned. I'd love to do more of these, if you guys are up to it! If not, still read and review, and no matter what, you guys are great! KerrolynWolf is extra great! :D WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**ARIANA: It may be a while before FeatherSong's next update. She still has a lot of work to do, and I do plan on making her do it.**

**(The rest of the Subete Club glares.)**

**ARIANA: Glare all you want! It changes nothing!**

**Well, til next time, guys...**

**-FeatherSong**


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